Gasket cutter



Oct. 7, 1952 w, WAGNER 2,612,686

I GASKET CUTTER Original Filed April 1, 1949 a wamemmgmnmaz;

INVENTOR. WILL/AM WAGNER.

Patented Oct. 7, 1952 I\ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE} l I 2,612,686. GASKET CUTTER William; Wagner, Brooklyn, N. I Y.

' Original application April 1, 1949,- Serial No. 84,796. Divided and this application December 30,1949, Serial No.-136,104-

6-01aims.

This invention;v relates: torv anotch. cutter for gaskets-of refrigerator-doorsand the like. This. is aidivislonal. application. the :original applica-- tion having: been. filed by applicant on April. 1., 19.49,.unden Serial No- 84,796, new Patent. No. 2,493,513.

Refrigeratordoor gaskets-are manufactured continuous=strips or lengthswhich must-becut to appropriatesize to fit the doors. of. themany different-makes, sizes and. styles of refrigerators now onthe market'. They must also be notched: at' appropriate-points-for the purpose of forming corners-and also for the purpose of enabling" the gaskets to follow the contours of doors with curved sides or edges. A 90 corner requires a HIP-notch in the-gasket'and a gentle curve necessitatesthe-formationof'a plurality of acute angle.

notches in the. gasket. The' problem of providing suitable notches; accurately spaced and precisely placed is not'very'serious in the plants where refrigerators are made, sincein long production runs'of gaskets for a given size and type of refrigerator" prefabrication 0r pre-notching isthe. keynote. The-problem does attain substantial proportions, however, when the repairman or Serviceman in the refrigeration field is called upon 'to substitute a-replacement gasket for the one with which the refrigerator was originally equipped. The serviceman has to contend. with a great many types andmakes and sizes of refrigerators: He-must also contend with many types of gaskets. And his problem" is to'incorporate the-proper type ofnotchin the right'placein each individual case.

Itis clear; therefore, that servicemen have had to-take 'time consuming measurements and that they have also had to engage in considerable guesswork in order'to fit a given gasket'to a given refrigerator door. They havehad to lay out each gasket for pre-notching before mounting the gasket on the refrigerator door. Improvised tools havebeen devised" for assisting in this work but tlfese toolshave invariablybeen awkward to use and their accuracy has been considerably less than desiredand required. In short, no gasket" 2 a. replacement gasket to. a refrigerator door. the method has not heretofore beeninwideius'e for. wantofa suitable-tool to notch the gasket directly ontherefrigerator door.

It, is the principal object. ofthis," ventionto.

provide: a. gasket notcher which may. be applied to. a gasket during the courseof the, procession afii'xing it: to. a refrigerator doori The, gasket. notcher of the present invention functionsin the manner of, a pair of cutting pliers or; nippers. It: may beheld in' one. hand preciselyasapair of pliers is held and it may be used very. con: venientlyin the precise location. where a corner ornotch is required. I I

Another object of this invention is the provision of a. notch cutterof. the character described which includes; gasket aligning means for precisely aligning the gasket. withrespect. to the cutter; A guide is provided for the; gasket which positions the gasket on a line to which thecutteris perpendicular. An indicator is provided teaccurately align the cutter with respect to that point on the gasket which isto coincide with the corner ofthe. door.

Another, object of this invention is the sion of a gasket; notcher. of the character describedwhichnhas interchangeable cutters for cutting. notches of: different sizes. In practice a serviceman may include; two or more gasket notchers in his kit, one equipped with a cutter, anothertwith a 45 or 3 0' cutter and athird with al5. cut'ten. If:he::wi'shes; however,- hezmay providehimself. with a single gasket notcheronly; having replaceable cutters of the angularsizes mentioned. The-replaceable cutters: of the present inventionare;mounted, on individual blocks which are readily secured tov one of thejaws of the. notcher. A single screw holds each blockin place onsaid jaw and replacement of anyone block with another requires simply the; removal and then" the replacement of. said screw.

A further object. of'this invention is.v the pro.- vision ofa gasket; notcher of the. character'de: scribed wherein the cutter co-acts, withananvil which: is made of softermaterialthan. the cutter and which isreplaceable at will. Thecuttenis made of hardened steel and'tlie anvil is mad'eJ-ot a relatively soft; material. such as. PI'BSSGdIWOOd'; which is held'in place by a single screw-1; The cutter cuts grooves into the .anvil and itscutting action with respect to theigasket' i's therebyrene hanced.

1 A still further object of this inventionf-isthe provision. of a gasket notcher'of' the: character describediwherein. a soft m-at 2is p1aced :beneatli,

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as illustrative of the many functions and purpurposes of convenience and clarity, the specification will be limited to its use in connection with gaskets for refrigerator doors.

Preferred forms of this invention are shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of one form of this invention, wherein the cutter is non-adjustable, the blades ofsaid cutter being afiixed to the upper jaw of. the notcher; v I p Fig. 2 is a plan view of said gasket notcher, looking downwardly upon the upper jaw and upon the projecting portionof the lower jaw;

, Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 showingthe jaws of the notcher in open position and showing a. refrigerator door gasket lying on the anvil and against the guide;

' Fig. 4 is a fragmentaryview looking up in the direction of the upper jaw and showing the fixed cutter thereon;

Fig 5 is a fragmentary view looking downwardly upon the lower jaw showing the anvil thereon; p

Fig. 6 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 of a second form of this invention wherein the cutter is mounted on a replaceable block; I

Fig. 7 is a view similar to that of Fig. 4 showing a block attached to the upper jaw of the notcher and carrying a pair of cutting blades which are situated at an angle of approximately 30 with respect to each other;

Fig. 8 is a similar view of a replacement block on which the blades are disposed at an angle of approximately 60 with respect to each other; Fig. 9 is a similar view of another replacement block on which the blades are disposed at an angle of approximately 90 with respect to each other; 7

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view of a refrigerator door gasket wherein a 90 notch has been cut with the aid of one of the notchers of the present invention;

Fig, 11 shows how said gasket is folded at the apex of said notch to form a 90 corner;

Fig. 12is a view of another strip of refrigerator door gasket wherein a plurality of equally spaced notches of approximately 30 have been formed by means of'the cutter shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. l3shows how said gasket is turned in at each said notch to form a substantially regular curve conforming to the curvature of a given refrigerator door; and

Fig; 14 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a notcher made in accordance with the design shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, wherein a cushion'is placed beneath the anvil to serve as an equalizer with respect to the cutter.

Thesimplest form of this invention is shown in Figs. 1 to 5' inclusive of the drawing. It comprises a pair of cooperating handles and 2| respectively which are pivotally connected to each other by means of rivet 22. The upper handle 20 extends downwardly past the rivet to form a lower jaw 23 and lower handle 2| extends upwardly past the rivet to form upper jaw 24. As Figs. 2 and 4 clearly show, upper jaw 24 is triangular in shape, the apex 25 of the triangle on a vertical plane on which the longitudinally axes of the two handles are situated. The triangle under discussion is a right angle isosceles to whose base line the handles of the device are perpendicular. Extending downwardly from the ,two side edges of the triangular jaw .24 is a pair of flanges 26 and 21, respectively. Mounted on said flanges by means of screws 28 is a pair of cutting blades 29 and 30, respectively, which comprise the cutter of the tool under discussion. It will be seen' that these two cutting blades are disposed at right angles with respect to each other and that they meet to form an apex or vertex 3| immediately adjacentvto, and in line with apex 25 of the jaw proper.

It will be seen in Figs. 2 and 5 that the lower jaw 23 is also substantially triangular in shape but it will also be seen that it has a forwardly extending, substantially rectangular portion which has an upwardly extending flange 36 formed thereon. Flange 36 is disposed on a vertical plane to which the longitudinal axis of the tool (on which apices 25 and 3! aredisposed) is perpendicular. A centrally disposed indicator 3! is formed on flange 36 in line with apices25 and 3 I. It will be seen in Fig. 6 that the floor of lower jaw' 23 supports a board of pressed wood38 which is screwed thereon by means of screw 39. This board serves as the anvil which the cutter is adapted to strike. The anvil, like jaws 23 and 24, is substantially triangular in shape.

The blades of the cutter are made of hardened steel and they retain their sharp cutting edge for a very long time. Nonetheless, they are replaceable either for sharpening or replacement purposes, since they are held on the upper jaw solely by means of screws 28. Anvil'38 is made of relatively soft material, such as pressed wood or plastics. The blades of the cutter are adapted to'cut' into the'anvil without doing themselves injury in order to produce a clean cut in the gasket. The anvil is also readily removable from the tool for replacement purposes since it is fastened to the lower jaw thereofsolely by means of a single screw 39.

Fig. 3 shows the position which rubber gasket 40 assumes when a notch is to be cut into it by means of the cutting tool under discussion. The gasket is placed upon anvil 38 and squarely against flange 36. Flang 36 serves as a guide for squaring the gasket with respect to the cutter and indicator 3'! serves as a guide for centering the gasket with respect to the cutter. The tool thus described may be used in the manner of a cuttin pliers and its blades 29 and 30 'will cut a notch in the gasket. See Fig. 10. The. gasket may be folded over at the apex of;said notch until the two edges thereof meet thereby forming a square or substantially square corner.

The cutters thus far described may.

aim-2,686

The formof inventionshown'in Figs. '6 to 9v inclusive is somewhatsimilar torthe form of inventiqnfirst above described except that itscuttel; i siconnected only indirectly'to, the uppergjaw; whereas in the first form of" the invention? it is fastened directly to it. The gasket cutter now under discussion includes a pair of cooperating handles 50. and respectively, which are pivotally connected by means of a rivet 52. The upper handle 50 extendsdownwardly across the rivet to form a lower jaw 53 and the lower handle extends upwardly across the rivet to form an upper jaw 54. The lower jaw has a forwardly projecting portion 55 to which an upwardly extending flange or guide wall 56 isconnected. A centrally disposed indicator 51 is formed on said guide wall. Removably mounted on the lower jaw is anvil 58. Thus far, this tool resembles the tool first above described and indeed its upper handle and lower jaw are identical.

Upper jaw 54 does not, however, have downwardly extending flanges corresponding to flanges 26 and 2! of the first form of this invention. Instead all it has is a centrally disposed tapped hole adapted to receive a screw 60. A triangular block 6|, which is isosceles in character, has a pair of cutting blades 62 and 63 removably fastened thereto by means of screws 64. These blades meet at the apex or vertex of the triangular block and they constitute the cutter of the tool. Several blocks may be provided with each tool. The two sides of block 6| are shown to be disposed toward each other at an angle of approximately 30" at the vertex of said triangular block. Block 10, on the other hand, shown in Fig. 12, is provided with a pair of blades H and 12, respectively, which are disposed at an angle of 60 with respect to each other and block 80, shown in Fig. 9, has a pair of blades BI and 82 which are 90 removed from each other. All

. three blocks GI, 10 and 80 are interchangeable ket, block 10 is used and when a 30 notch is desired, use is made of block 6|. If notches of different angular sizes are desired, correspondinglv sized blocks should be employed.

Block 6| has a hole formed therein to receive screw 60. To fasten said block to upper jaw 54, all that need by done is'to screw it to the jaw by means of said screw 60,. Blocks I0 and 80. however, are provided with slots 13 and 83, respectively, in place of the hole in block 6 I. Screw 50 projects through said slots and it will be understood that said blocks may be positioned at any selected location relative to guide wall 58, in order to control the de th of the out. In other words, blocks 10 and 80 are adjustable with respect to upper jaw 54 and hence with respect to guide wall 56 and such being the case, deeper or shallo er notches may be cut b means of the same tool by simply adjusting the position of said blocks thereon. The apex formed bv blades 82 and 63, or by blades H and 12, or blades 8| and biBZi will normallyt-beelinedlupz.with of uppertj awn-"Shana; witlnindi'catoi: i1 aorr 'lgufde wall 56;. It desired; however; tthex'blockzmayiibe turned; on center'rsoz that theztw'o blades mounted thereon..willl.begiinclirred: at difierent. anglesiwvith respect? to the guidewwall; 5,6;rT-3It may be "found desirabletoauseethecutter" imthis manner-when a; notch whose. edges; I bear tat; different;. angles withrrespect.torthe. longitudinal axis ofcthe gas-k ketisz.required.- 1, 1 1

It will be understood that cushion *:miaybe used. i'n connectionwith the gasket cutter last above described in precisely the same manner as it may be usedsiii."c'onnectionl'with the gasket cutter first.. abovadescribed .fI'he ;for1 ns otinvention ab'ovedescribed illustrate;.one,;-typeso! pliers construction and action whichmay be utilized in the present invention, but it will be understood that other forms of pliers may also be utilized for the purposes of this invention. The

foregoing is, of course, descriptive solely of preferred forms of this invention, and. it will clearly be understood that these forms may be varied or modified in many ways within the broad scopeof the'present invention and other forms of the invention may also be had within its broadscope and spirit.

I claim:

1. A notch cutter for gaskets and the like, comprising a pair of co-acting pivotally connected handles, a pair of co-acting jaws on said handles, one of said jaws having a triangular block removably fastened thereto, a pair of cutting blades removably mounted on two sides of said block to describe a V between them, an anvil for said cutting blades mounted on the second of said jaws, and guiding means on said second jaw for locating the gasket on the anvil relative to the I cutting blades.

2. A notch cutter for gaskets and the like, comprising 'a pair of co-acting, pivotally connected handles, a pair of co-acting jaws on said handles, one of said jaws having a triangular block removably mounted thereon, a pair of cutting blades removably mounted ontwo sides of said cutting block and describing a V between them, a rubber cushion mounted on the second of said jaws, a relatively soft anvil for said cutting blades replaceably mounted on said cushion, and guiding means on said second jaw for 10- cating the gasket on the anvil relative to, the cutting blades. i

3. A notch cutter in accordance with claim 2, wherein the guiding means for locating thegasket on the anvil is integral with the second jaw and comprises a vertical wall formed on saidsecond jaw adjacent the anvil.

4. A notch cutter in accordance with claim 2, wherein the first-mentioned jaw is providedwith a point immediately adjacent the vertex of the V which the two cutting blades describe, and wherein the guiding means for locating the gasket on the anvil comprises a vertical wall formed on the second jaw with an indicator formed thereon, said indicator being locateddirectly opposite the point on the first-mentioned jaw so as to serve as an indicator with respect to the cutting blades mounted on. said first jaw.

5. A notch cutter in accordance with claim 1, wherein a cushion is interposed between the anvil and the jaw on which said anvil is mounted, so as to render said anvil adjustable relative to the cutting blades.

6. A notch cutter for gaskets and the like, comprising a pair of co-acting pivotally connected,

7 handles, a pail-tot 'co-acting jaws'on said handle, a V.-shaped'cutterremovab1y mounted on one of said jaws, a; cushioned anvil for said cutter'removably mounted on the second jaw, an indicator .on the first jaw immediatelyadjacent the vertex of theV-shaped cutter, a guide wall on the secondjaw for locating the gasket on the anvil relative'to the cutter, and anindicator on said guide wall directly opposite the vertex of said V-shaped cutter and the indicator on said first jaw. 1 r

' I WILLIAM WAGNER."

REFERENCES crmn I The following referenceslare of record in the file or this' patent:

Number v 15 "232,908

' 8.1 v 1 UNHED'STATESPATENTS Date Switzerland Sept. 16,1944 

